How To Put the Sssssssss Back In Your Sunshine and Other Useful Facts

Because I THOROUGHLY enjoyed it... Of course, (screen)names changed to protect the innnocent & chubby (assuming I'm not one of the chatters... in which case, I'm protecting myself... but I'm not this funny, so let's assume I'm not protecting myself and that whole thing was just to make me seem cooler than I really am). Oh yeah, and I'm hoping the fate-tempting isn't too much. Just to be safe, I'm going for a walk.

Person A - I am thinking about committing to the heart attack and being fat and seeing where that takes me. I have the chest pains at 27. the first heart attack can't be far off. every time my jaw hurts or I get a tingling pain in my arm, I think "OK God, time to come home. Tell my family I love them"
Person B - don't make me laugh, my heart will hurt too, hilarious
Person A - and you're the only one I can tell about this because you're the only one who understands and won't say "[Geez, Person A]! Go to the doctor!"
Person B - lol ha. he'd just say no more chork pop biscuits and you'll be fine. to which we'd scream, "screw you fatty"
Person A - they will want to stick me with things and make me eat right and exercise and put me on meds. I say *&@# that. I figure if I'm going to go out, I'm gonna be surrounded by my friends. my sweety, burgery, cheesy, french fry friends


I'm pretty sure Person B stole my name for Hardee's best breakfast sandwich. S/he laughed at me saying it just a week or so ago... and here it shows up in his/her chat transcript. Of course, maybe I stole it from him/her.

Also, love the description of the friends. Those are my peeps... my sweety, burgery, cheesy, french fried besties. (My apologies to those besties who don't like to consider themselves french fried.)

So, anyway, I went for that walk. Cut it short, though. Took the 1 mile route instead of the 3. Trying to keep up with my french friend friends. :)

Um... also... Cooper just BROKE my s key... every single s in this sentence had to be copied & pasted! Kona came upstairs with a chew toy that Cooper wanted. And although he was laying quietly beside me on the sofa resting, he couldn't let Kona come up on the couch too... not with that chew, dang it. Therefore (really wanted that word to be "so"... but the s on my clipboard at the moment is a lower case one... and to change it to a capital would just be silly & time-consuming when I'd just have to change it right back), he attempted to leap over my lap (where, of course, the notebook computer is). Well, I wasn't quite expecting that activity, and my arm (which was typing this post) happened to be in the way. Thus (again, supposed to be "so"), he jumped, I half-caught, he landed on the keyboard, the s key fell off. AND IT WON'T GO BACK ON. Great... now I have to work without an s key... and eventually (when I get the opportunity to), explain to the IT guys at work what happened to my beloved (worked to a nubbin already but now REALLY won't work) s key. Well, this should be fun.



Oh yeah, and Jon... I'm driving your truck while you're gone! :) Just thought I'd tell you before Bill did... since he threatened to do that today. Silly Bill.



*** P.S. - by forcibly removing the A key, I figured out that I was still missing a part of the key contraption and THAT was what was keeping my S key from working. I found the rubbery part that helps the bounce-back-i-ness of the keys on the sofa... around where Cooper landed when he did his flying melendez impression earlier. Now I have replaced all of the inner workings of the key, forced it back on... and it still doesn't work properly. :( I have to press down very deliberately (and quite hard) to make an s appear here. I hope you all appreciate the extra effort it takeSSSSSSSSSSSS. Suggestions from anyone with key-replacing experience?

And Now It's Time To Go To Bed...

The Smithereens really hit the nail on the head:
   I never think about the future
   I just live for today

Yes, I know that you all know this about me; but it's time I admitted it for myself. I live in the moment. I'm a non-planner. I'm Yesterday Girl.

That's all well and good; but the PROBLEM with my non-planning-ness is that I'm also a bit of a worrier (when it comes to the non-planning). Hmm... that was confusing. I guess I'll have to explain. Bottom line, I think, is that I pick & choose the worst parts of being a planner vs. being a non-planner, and I embody them. Non-planners, for example, do not have the fun anticipation of an event. The I-can't-wait-until-I-get-to-do-that is lost on me because I'm a non-planner. My dad, although he's definitely not a true planner, does have the anticipation factor going for him. The last few times I just showed up, surprising him (thinking I was doing something cool that he would enjoy), he scolded me. His reasoning... he likes the anticipation of a visit. I get that. It makes sense. I don't know what that's like... but I think it might be nice. On the flip side, planners must always think one step ahead of the moment they're living in. So, I take that and think (well, worry) about the moment when my fun will be over. Let's use my visits to Mom & Dad's as an example again. They're generally pretty unplanned. I'm a spur-of-the-moment I'm-going-to-NC kind of girl. That's fun for me. But as soon as I pull into the driveway, I'm already thinking of how much it's going to suck to leave again. So, I spend a lot of my visit grieving (okay, maybe that's too strong a word, but you get the picture) the end of said visit. Y'know... I actually think I DID get that quality from my dad. I've heard him say on more than one occasion that the worst part of visiting us (Haley or me) is knowing that he'll be heading in other direction (away from us again) in a very short time. Did I get that right, Dad? Now, if you could just teach me to enjoy the anticipation, the lead-up, to a visit; that'd be great. Then I could be less of a non-planning planner, suffering through the worst of both worlds.

Anyway, my apologies to those of you who have been frustrated recently by either the planning or the non-planning side of me. Rest assured, it's worse for me... believe me.

Meanwhile, I love the sky. And I take lots of pictures of it. And I think it's really pretty. And I want to post those pictures here.




True time stamp (FYI): 1:50 am

Here I've just been rambling (even more) while you guys were all sleeping. And now it's time for me to rest my weary head. 5-4-3-2-zzzzzzz.

Just Let 'Em Fall

If you need water
I'm your rain
If you need fire
I'm your flame
If you're resisting to go or stay
Let all the angels take you away

Just Don't Disappoint Me; You Know How Complex Women Are

We went running a little early again tonight. Just got back. It was quiet... no wind tonight... the only noise: the chocolate milkshake sloshing around in my belly. Yeah, just like the cinnamon chip muffins, not a great idea to have just before going running. BUT, I swear, that was, like, three hours ago! Who knew it was that heavy!?!? Okay, okay, I did. I knew better. Lay off already.

Anyway, so let me talk just a second about Cooper and his little puppy-sized version of "the affliction". Okay, that's enough of that. (Right Mom? If we don't talk about it, it's not real.) LOL

Moving right along... well, actually... taking a break to help Jon get his bag all packed & ready to go for the 6 am parking-lot-meeting. Wow... that sounds familiar and brings back lots of early morning meet-the-bus-for-the-pep-band-trip memories! Let's ponder those for a sec while I get everything folded into nice straight lines for the boy's Miami trip.

Alrighty now. So, Jon just said, "OK, I've got to be up there around 5:30." GEEZ. What's wrong with some people? WHY would anyone ever choose to leave for a road trip at 5:30 am?! Come to think of it, why would anyone ever choose to wake up before 8:00? That's plenty early enough for me, thank you very much. Anyway, so... Rufus will be by here at 5:00 to pick us up, and either Jay or Juice will save us a seat. Ahh, the good old days. There's a picture somewhere that I wish I had scanned in so I could post it. It's terrible of me... and GC is talking to the camera... and Jason S's frizzy hair is sticking out up over the seat behind us... but it's just such a fun reminder of that night. Sorry... I completely went off on a tangent there. Right, yes, 5:30 am PRESENT DAY. Got it... I'm with you now.

A couple to keep you interested... or bored:


Also, once a year, it's a requirement that this guy pay us a visit. Lis enjoyed the pics last year; so I must share the proof of this new visit with her again this year. His feet are STICKY!




Finally, since Jon's going to be gone for the next few days and my only company will be these two lunatics . . .


. . . please keep me in your mind and on your IM short list. :)

Capture My Thoughts

So many things I think about
When I look far away
Things I know, things I wonder
Things I'd like to say

There a Hole in My Heart/Yard That Can Only Be Filled By You/A New Tree

Kudos, Future Trees, for finally getting this done for us!

No Matter What It Says... I Know I'm Still All Four Seasons... But I Do Live For the Warm Weather

You Belong in Summer

Energetic, creative, and very curious about the world... You're not going to let anything hold you back, especially a cold day. Whether you're chilling out at the beach or partying all night, you live for the warm weather.

What Season Are You?

Belief is a Beautiful Armor

The things people can do with maps online these days! The "mash ups" out there are pretty darn amazing. Ran across one today that made me chuckle: NYC Subway Map, Complete with Smells. Check out what you might be smelling anytime you head down into the underground from the streets of the big city. Also, found this handy-dandy map that might've been great to have while I was living in Chapel Hill (well... if I would've ever stepped foot on a bus while there): GPS Your Bus. I miss Chapel Hill. I think I need to go back & visit soon. When is homecoming again?!

Anyway, those of you who have blogs & don't post to them... or those of you continuing to resist the urge to blog: more ammo for your argument! How To Dissuade Yourself from Becoming a Blogger. Mmm... attention and validation. That sounds nice.

So, I'm really curious (and, c'mon, you know I've posted enough pics here... although there are tons more in my pics file and still on my camera). What did you (or do you) think of my pics? Funny, silly, just plain bad? And here are just a few to remind you what I like taking pictures of (well, at least two of my favorite subjects):

6 Things About Me

A friend of mine recently posted this on her own blog. It was a "tag" message (you know, "tag, you're it"). No, she didn't "tag" me; but I was looking for topics & decided to "tag" myself. LOL. So, without further ado... six things you may not have known (but probably did already) about me.

1) I may think I'm not sleepy, but give me 5 seconds of head-on-pillow time & I'm out... even if I just told you I'm wide awake (or just started a really deep conversation). The kick-in-the-pants about this is that I'm a self-professed night owl. I prefer staying up late. Love the late night hours - the quiet, the dark, etc., etc. And usually, I don't really feel that tired when I'm pondering the idea of going to bed. But when I finally give in (usually, to the boredom) and hit the hay, I find that I have no trouble catching those much-elusive-for-some-people Z's. I cannot fathom the thought of lying in the bed awake, thinking, feeling, being bored, etc. I truly feel bad for people who can't go to sleep right away. They do not know the perfection, the sweet sweet no-down-time of the head-hit-your-pillow-out-cold trait.

2) I'm quite OCD about the organization of my clothing. In my closet, shirts are hung by season (short-sleeve vs. long-sleeve) and then by color. Stacks of folded clothes really need to be perfect & straight to meet my approval. Jon's side of the closet drives me insane since he doesn't care what order his shirts are in. I'm not as anal about it as I could be, because I often let the neatness of the whole system slide... but, rest assured, the system is still there even below the piles of clothes on the floor or the shelves!

3) I love knowing things... and I love telling them too. I feel a NEED to know what people around me are talking about... even when it's absolutely none of my business. Come to think of it, I really don't think I believe ANYTHING is none of my business. I like to know it all. The true downfall of that quality is the need-to-tell one that complements it. So, as you can imagine, that might actually deter people from telling me things. So, I'm working on it. I swear I am. There was a Snickers incident years ago that should've taught me a lesson (right, Haley?). But, alas, I have not learned that well. I guess the "nurture" part of my upbringing is deep-rooted. Not that my mom is a "teller." No way, not her.

4) I take secret pics of myself. Get your mind out of the gutter... not like that! Well, not always. Just kidding, people, this is a family blog! Anyway... the bottom line of this one is that I am vain, vain, vain, vain, vain. It's not that I think I'm that pretty. I know I'm not all that. But I quite enjoy the glance into every-single-mirror-I-pass. Maybe it's masochism; maybe it really is vanity... either way, it's very noticeable, I'm sure, if you've ever been with me around a mirror. I'll look right through you to see myself in the mirror. Crazy, I tell ya. So, my camera is my own little personal mirror anytime I choose to pose in front of it. The beauty of digital photography is that you can delete any & all self portraits that aren't flattering. Build a mirror like that, please! Also... taking the vanity a step farther... I think other people think about me as much as I do. Okay, maybe not really, but to a certain extent. When I was at M&D's the last time through, I was working in the middle of a workday from my bedroom. A car passed on Idlewild and honked its horn. Well, OF COURSE that was for me! And I spent the rest of the day wondering who was honking their horn at me! When I was growing up (in that same room at M&D's), I used to wonder if anyone had ever looked up toward my window (on purpose) to see me. I've had a specific person in mind all these years... the stalker type for sure... but I'd hate to actually use his name... you know, protecting the innocent and all. Actually, come to think of it, he did a few things back in high school that proved his less-than-innocence, so maybe I can mention his initials. Nah... those of you who've heard the stories (I'll pay you $20 to go out with me, locking the doors of the car I was in so I couldn't get out until I considered kissing him, etc., etc.), you know who I'm talking about! But, I'm pretty sure he doesn't still stalk me. Of course, the vanity in me says of course he does. :-)

5) I'm obsessed with blogging every week night. And I re-read last night's post every morning. And speaking of re-reading, I'll re-read anything I've written (or things that have been written to me) hundreds of times. I just really enjoy going back to remember. And I like my own writing... even if it's terrible and no one else wants to read it. Like my friend (whose blog I'm copying), I often wonder if my writing really does a good job of reflecting ME... but I know it pretty much captures me in a nutshell. I wrote it; of course it's me. But there are times when I go back to re-read and am surprised at what I've written. Sometimes good surprising, sometimes bad. I like to keep it interesting!

6) My guilty pleasures include a subscription to US Weekly, bad TV, internet games, and fast food (of which you already know too much about). I've been falling down on my US Weekly reading recently... there are probably 10 issues lying around the house in random spots just waiting for me to finish them up. Eh, who cares?! The celebrity news is fun, but there's always more tomorrow! The bad TV I watch includes various programs of the reality genre, but nothing that's gone too popular. I still like all the MTV reality attempts: The Real World (I'd still watch Road Rules if they had another one!), Real World/Road Rules Challenge shows, The Hills, Laguna Beach (yes, even the new class), etc. And on my Tivo season pass manager: Gilmore Girls (although, I would NEVER say this is bad TV), Las Vegas (again, not bad), and several others I can't remember right now! I've added many, many, many shows to the season pass manager over the last couple weeks, though. I'm looking very forward to the new season premieres. I hope they live up to their hype. Of course, with my luck (can anyone say American Embassy?), I'll fall in love with something only to have it rudely taken off the air before the storylines are even completed! REMEMBERING is my other guilty pleasure. I indulge myself way too much & always put myself in the most melancholy of moods. My memory actually sucks, but it at least thinks it remembers little things here & there that it likes bringing up ALL THE TIME. Jon says I live in the past. Maybe I do. That would be a fun place to live.

Okay, that's enough of that. Enjoy your Wednesday night. See you tomorrow!

So Tired

One should just not have to attend meetings all day then come back to the hotel to work for, oh, about a full day. Ugh. Oh well... only way to keep up sometimes. And sometimes, you're just bored when you pick up the PC for something to do (then get stuck working for multiple hours).

Anyway, just saying hello tonight. Quickly. I've promised myself an early bedtime. Just finished changing some organization levels for Tijuana employees in UltiPro and sending out the FINAL report of this year's performance appraisal process. Fun, huh? And all AFTER a full day of eAppraisal presentations! Boy, life is great! Can't wait to see what tomorrow brings!!!

Much love to all y'all.

Hold On To Whatever Will Get You Through

Rorschach... provided by-- the camera in my purse that decided to turn itself on & take 40 pics of nothing:


And the evening festivities on the Jungle Queen... oops, I mean the Ottawa River Queen. Carmen & me; Chris finally seeing us above them; Wanda catching on to the plan; and the company gang (Paul, Chris, David, Sue, etc.). Aww... aren't they cute?!


Tired again. Kinda need to catch up on my sleep. Funny story about that... you know most of my story from yesterday (the neverending trip to Canada). But I neglected to tell you the funny part that happened while I was on my 2nd plane out from Charlotte. Evidently, I was getting tired. I had been in the airport for a really long time at that point. AND, thanks Delta, for putting me in the middle seat. I joked to my two neighbors that I was surprised I was so lucky... I figured one of them would've definitely snagged the middle by the time I got there. They laughed. That wasn't the last time they'd laugh at me before we got off the ground. So... I start reading this story in Sky magazine about the birth of journalism. And I swear it was interesting... well, at least it wasn't THAT boring. But it put me right to sleep. And I could feel myself nodding off. I was actually thinking about blog posts, what I could write that would keep you guys entertained, how I could keep it funny & interesting on this little page of mine. I thought to myself, "I need to remember those two ideas so I can ... zZZZZZZZzzz." Next thing I know (WHO KNOWS how many minutes had actually elapsed... we were sitting on the tarmac, preparing to taxi to the runway... but sometimes that can take forever!), my head jerks VIOLENTLY & wakes me up. Evidently, I fell out of my chair in my dream. (I hate it when that happens!) So, my two neighbors are LAUGHING OUT LOUD... and I'm like, well, at least I wasn't doing something REALLY embarassing... like snoring. Shoot... I bet you anything I was snoring like crazy. And then I had to go and jump like that. Good Lord... who let the CRAZY lady on the flight?!

Go Cry About It, Why Don't You

I mean, it's only been 15 hours since I left the Motel 6 this morning (well, yesterday morning by this time). And I was only SUPPOSED to be here 8 hours ago. Hey... that's how it goes when you're traveling with Murphy (you know, of the "law" fame). Oh well, several airplanes, airports, delays, mechanical failures, and otherwise weird & inconvenient goings on, I arrived at the hotel. And it makes it all fade away. I sure am glad my always-looking-to-save-money travel agent (whose attitude usually seems to be "ha ha, I'm glad I don't have to take the trip I just booked for you!) decided to persuade me to save a few bucks by staying down the street from the conference-hotel (Marriott) at the Albert at Bay Suites hotel. Yes, suites. My "room" is actually comprised of SIX rooms (and that's just if you count the real rooms): living room, office, bedroom, master bathroom, 2nd bathroom, kitchen... plus a "closet" (room with shelves, iron, & ironing board & lots of empty floor space), and an entryway. Quite the change from the Motel 6 on Carowinds Blvd. Not that the Motel 6 was bad... this is just really nice.


But at the Motel 6, I had my sister, favorite friend to keep me company (well, at Motel 6, at Carowinds, and at Damon's on Carowinds/Tryon).


And here, it's just me (still completely capable of being silly) and the darn Canadiens.


Well, that's CLEARLY (given the time of 2 am) enough for tonight. Perhaps more about the CLT trip with my girl Haley later in the week. And probably more about the Ottawa trip as well... especially since I'll be living it for the next few days. Peace out, my ppls. Catch you soon, I hope.

Get the Daily Round-Up Before It's Gone, Gone, Gone, Gone, Gone

The last few days, I have been spending afternoons trying to catch up with Tivo. Tivo is fast. Tivo is cool. But Tivo gets soooo far ahead of me when I don't pay attention to him every single day. Anyway, I'm cleaning out the Gilmore Girls eps that I didn't recognize as already-watched & delete (some of them are brand new to me!... why did I not watch these during their first-run?... hmm, well, I guess there was a time there when I missed a few -- traveling & the like -- when I didn't have Tivo to capture them for me as they happened... and I was too lazy to fire up the VCR or PC to record). Tonight, I've completely finished watching everything that Tivo grabbed during July... well, GG eps, that is. I think there are still some movies and miscellaneous crap that have the 7/something date beside the titles. Anyway, I'm once again feeling a wonderful sense of accomplishment (the first great feeling of accomplishment for the week was a couple of days ago when I finally got someone from FutureTrees to call me back about this dead tree of mine! By the way, I do believe he's coming back tomorrow to take out the old & plant the new. How EXCITING!!! A real life living tree in the back yard. WOW). But... the watching of the Tivo'd GG... Loving it. Of course, it's quite tiring trying to keep up with those gals. They're quick, I tell ya.

So, let's see. Other very fun news for the day... I found a very exciting web site tonight (via Digg maybe... no, I think it was Lifehacker... geez, you're right, I have waaaaaay too many RSS feeds) that promises to send me manageable daily read-in-a-few-minutes e-mailed excerpts of novels. Their FAQ mentioned copyright issues, so I was quite surprised at the selection that they actually offer (when I finally made it to the select-your-novel page... actually, didn't take that long at all... the page possibly needs a little more bulking up... nothing worse than hitting what you think could be a rockin' web site only to be left confused about its mission in life). Anyway, there are actually 165 titles in this little set-up! No, I didn't count. I let Excel do the counting for me. Yes, I created a spreadsheet. I love spreadsheets. They're my THING. Don't judge me. Spreadsheets and fast food. That's what I've got, people. Oh yeah... AND, just this once, I also have ROLLER COASTERS. Yep... looking VERY forward to that! Haley & I are heading to Charlotte tomorrow evening to have a sisters-night-out (or in with a bottle of something fun), a full day of junk-food-eating & roller-coaster-riding hilarity, and another sisters-night-out (probably watching Carolina... GOD HELP US... win their football game!) Saturday night. Then, fun fun fun, I fly to Ottawa on Sunday. Ottawa. Yeah, well... hopefullly, it'll be a blast. Sometimes these things turn out better than they sound. Actually, this one sounds pretty interesting (to me, don't ask what it is... you'd all laugh at my lame-ness); so, hopefully, it'll live up to, at the very least, the idea I have of it in my mind. Don't you wish you could go to Ottawa with me? I know. It just sounds sooooo glamorous. LOL

Well... that's enough chatting for me. I'm chatted out, and it's time for bed. Especially if I'm gonna get the rest of my GG collection watched tomorrow (there are other things I must do as well... some of which really are work-related, I swear boss). Here's hoping Christopher makes lots of guest appearances on the ones I have left. Love him. :) Night, y'all.

Oh yeah, the web site I was talking about before: http://dailylit.com. And, because I just can't help it, a couple more pics for you. #1 - Another of Forsythe, well mainly the garage... and a little of the office. #2 - I'm enamoured with the sky at my house. This was one of our frequent afternoon T-storms.

Feeding the Addiction... So To Speak

I have a problem. I'm pretty sure I need to seek professional help. I seem to have an addictive personality. And (in addition to other things), I display this addictive personality not through booze or drugs... although I think that may just be a tad healthier -- ooooh, that was probably really wrong to say... sorry -- anyway, the unhealthy way I exhibit my addictive-ness is through fast food. Fast food is my vice, my love, the heart of my life. You cannot understand (unless you also have this affliction... no, mom, not THAT affliction) how much it really consumes me. Seriously. Pretty sure I DO need to seek professional help.

So, three days this week (it's Wednesday... truly is Wednesday... even though I really didn't remember it was Wednesday this morning... the beauty of working at home -- no need to know the days) = three fast food lunches. I've taken to indulging my fast food habit over the lunch hour when I can sneak it more effectively. (Isn't that one of the signs? Sneaking around to get the fix? And another one (sign, I mean): I eat it alone.)


You're just not that type of guy/gal, you say? Well, just be careful. It can sneak up on you when you're not paying attention. You think you're strong. You've shifted away from the fast food life. It can still get you. Believe me. And before you know it, you're seeking professional help for your addiction. It can happen.

Waking Up is the Hardest Part

That is, when you stay up too late doing who knows what. Well, I know what... but you don't need to know all those details. :)

So, I realized today that the bugs here in Statesboro (well, at least at Forsythe) must be on something of an annual cycle. All of a sudden, when we haven't really had any problems with ants all year (well, since last September/October!), I find this:Do you think it's weird that it takes a BITE to get me pissed at the bugger (and want to stomp, stomp, stomp), but one little guy crawling on my bare foot gives me the creepy crawlies all day?!?! I thought that a little strange. The biting ones, LET'S GO (you know, in a "put up your dukes/bring it on" kind of way)... but the harmless little merely-crawling-on-me ones make me act all girly. Silly. I know. Anyway, evidently the ants are back. So, I'll be making yet another trip to my trusty local home improvement store (where we buy everything anyway... you really should SEE how much we've spent in the past year there) to purchase more pest control spray. When I went looking for my supply in the garage (after I freaked out because a little bitty ant touched my foot), I found that it was gravely depleted. Time for a major restock. Wish I was better at planning for these things.

Anyway... the house next door is coming along nicely. WHY are none of you interested? I'm really a good neighbor. I swear! Just ask Lynn.


And finally... Cooper & Kona wanted me to say a quick hello from them. They're sleeping at the moment... but they asked me earlier if I could say hi to y'all for them. At least, I think that's what they were asking.

Well, it's late... so, I'm a-going back to my burning room. X's & O's. And I'll be seeing you soon...